It's clear Lansing's roads are in bad shape. But what would it take to fix them?

Most states have laws to protect the government from liability for potholes and other road defects. However, there is a chance you could be reimbursed after a pothole damages your car. Here are some tips for filing a successful claim.
Sarah Lehr

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A construction crew works on Mt. Hope Avenue west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Lansing.(Photo11: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)Buy Photo

Although this series explores what it would take to grant items on Lansing's wish list, many people don't characterize improved roads as a mere wish.

Lansing resident Larry Banner says better roads are a need rather than a want. Banner lives in a homeless shelter and does not have a car. Still, the 55-year-old says potholes are so commonplace that he even avoids riding a bike on Lansing's streets.

It's clear that Lansing's roads are in bad shape — less than 8% are in "good" condition, according to 2017 data from the state's Transportation Asset Management Council. It's also clear that Lansing's roads have been getting worse with each passing year and that they will deteriorate even further absent a major increase in funding. What's less clear is where the money to fix Lansing's roads might come from.

How much would it cost to repair Lansing's roads?

Last fiscal year, about $5 million total in local, state and federal funding went into improving the underlying structure of Lansing's roads. That compares to an average of $4.2 million annually since 2010.

The good news is that number will shoot up this fiscal year to more than $8 million. That's partly due to a boost in revenue from the state gas tax, but it's mostly because more local funding is going toward road projects this year.

The bad news is that, even with that bump, Lansing will still be $17 million short of the estimated $25 million that would be needed annually to bring the majority of Lansing's roads to "good" condition within 10 years, city officials say.

In all, Lansing expects to resurface 10.5 miles this fiscal year, an increase compared to the city's average of 6.4 miles since 2015. That's a positive trend, but still represents a tiny fraction of the nearly 450 road miles within Lansing city limits.

Lansing officials blame the city's road money shortfall on decades of under-funding at the state and federal level.

"These roads are at the end of their life cycle," said Lansing Public Service Director Andy Kilpatrick. "It's taken decades to get us into this hole and it's going to take sustained funding to get us out."

Each year, the estimated price tag to repair Lansing's roads grows. That's partly because prices go up for labor and supplies, Kilpatrick said. It's also because the roads are on a worsening trajectory and bad roads are more expensive to fix than adequate or good ones.

On the bright side, if Lansing does come up with enough local, state and federal money — between $200 million and $250 million over the next decade — to bring most roads to good condition, the price to maintain those roads will eventually drop, city officials say.

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A pothole filled with water seen on Marcus Street near Fairview Avenue on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Lansing.(Photo11: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)

Mayor: Michigan officials ‘closed their eyes to the problem’

Local funding for Lansing's roads comes from sewer fees, property taxes and the city's general fund.

This fiscal year, the city is putting all $2 million raised annually from its public safety and infrastructure property tax toward improving the underlying structure of roads and sidewalks. Previously, some of that money has gone toward supplies, signs and maintenance expenditures, like pothole patching and snow removal, rather than to new road projects.

Additionally, Lansing is spending close to $3 million this fiscal year for Combined Sewer Overflow work, a federally mandated project that involves re-doing storm drains and sewers so that heavy rainfall won't cause sewage to overflow into lakes and rivers. When the city updates a neighborhood's sewer system, it replaces the road structure above those pipes.

Lansing's sewer separation work, funded by sewer fees, began in 1991 and was initially slated to be a 30-year project. The city resumed sewer separation work last fiscal year after halting the project in 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

Beyond the use of property taxes and some fees, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said cities are "hamstrung" in their ability to raise money for roads.

"Our state, they kind of closed their eyes to the problem," said Schor, who formerly represented Michigan's 68th House district which includes Lansing.

Michigan cities can't implement local sales taxes and Lansing already imposes 19.44 mills in property taxes, close to the state-imposed ceiling of 20 mills. One mill represents $1 in property tax for every $1,000 of a property's valuation.

"It's almost like we have both hands tied behind our back our back and we're trying to fight," Kilpatrick said of state restrictions on local fundraising.

Lansing City Council can transfer money from the city's general fund to street resurfacing and it did so this fiscal year to the tune of $400,000. During the previous three budget cycles, Lansing did not put any general fund money toward road projects.

"The city has a lot of other needs as well, so we're limited in how much general fund money we have," said Schor who became mayor on Jan. 1. "Roads are a priority and we're doing the best we can with the money we have."

Lansing's total budget is $216.8 million, including a $134.3 million general fund.

Local roads are the worst

In Lansing, local roads are in the worst shape (61% in poor condition, according to 2017 PASER ratings.) The county-maintained roads (22% poor) and state trunklines (26% poor) that run through the city are in better shape.

Waverly Road between Jolly and Miller Roads is an example of a county road that runs through Lansing and Saginaw Highway is an example of a state trunkline.

Across Michigan, state trunklines tend to be in the best condition, in part, because federal aid is designated for freeways and roads considered to be major arteries. Lansing gets about $1.5 million in federal funding for major city streets each year, enough to repair only 1 to 2 miles.

Furthermore, local officials say the state's road funding formula, Public Act 51, is skewed against local governments. The act distributes state gas tax and registration fee money, with 39 percent going to the Michigan Department of Transportation, 39 percent to county road commissions and 22 percent to cities and villages.

Schor, a former Democratic state representative, argues that formula should be flipped, with the greatest percentage of revenue going to cities and villages.

"Cities have the greatest need," Schor said. "Money should be targeted for the worst roads."

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The view from inside a pothole on Vine Street near Clemens Avenue intersection on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Lansing.(Photo11: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)

'No political will' to change road funding formula

The state's allocation of road money to local governments depends on a municipality's population.

It's also based on the length of road mileage within a municipality, but does not take into account how wide those roads are. That's a system that favors rural communities with lightly trafficked roads over dense cities with multi-lane roads, said Craig Thiel, a research director with the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, a non-partisan think tank.

PA 51 has been tweaked several times since its adoption in 1951, but, Steve Waalkes, a former president of Michigan's section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said the formula still doesn't mirror more than 60 years of demographic changes.

"In some ways, the formula is still reflecting the way Michigan was in 1951," Waalkes said, noting that many urban areas have become more concentrated since the act's adoption, while rural communities have seen their populations shrink or stay the same.

Schor characterizes Michigan's funding formula as inefficient, but says there's "little to no political will" to reform it.

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A pothole filled with water seen on Marcus Street near Fairview Avenue on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Lansing.(Photo11: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)

Michigan infrastructure is 'severely underfunded, period'

Any adjustments to Act 51 would need to be gradual, Waalkes said, since it would be difficult for some agencies to adapt to drastic cuts to their funding.

Changes to the Act 51 funding formula are worth pursuing, said John LaMacchia, who lobbies for the interests of local governments through the Michigan Municipal League. But, he says the underlying issue is that there's not enough road money to distribute.

"Michigan infrastructure is severely underfunded, period," LaMacchia said. "Because that need exists, we don't get very far by just reshuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic."

In Michigan, state and local governments spent $368 per resident on highways annually, according to 2015 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That number was the fifth lowest in the nation, below the national average of $525 per resident and even further below the $560 average for other Great Lakes states.

Michigan's roads earned a "D-" from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2017, slightly worse than the "D" grade for the nation's roads overall.

Not all gas tax money goes to roads

Infrastructure funding is a national challenge largely because it's a political burden to raise gas taxes, Thiel said. "The federal gas tax hasn't been raised since 1993, 25 years ago. Michigan last raised its gas tax in 2017, after two decades of stagnation.

"It's a hated tax," Thiel said. "It's something that consumers notice every time they go to the gas pump."

He suggested that term limits, capped at eight years for Michigan senators and six years for House members, might contribute to the problem.

"The last thing you want to do is make a change that your community is upset about in the short-term," Thiel said. "You're less likely to have the long view of the state of roads if your time in office is limited."

Michigan actually has the fifth highest fuel tax in the nation, according to 2017 data compiled by the Tax Foundation, but voters often don't realize that only some of that revenue goes toward roads; Michigan also puts gas tax money toward schools and local government.

As a state representative, Schor voted against laws that increased vehicle registration fees by 20% and raised the gas tax by about 7 cents per gallon. The new rates took effect in 2017 following passage by Michigan's Republican-led Legislature in 2015. The hikes, paired with $600,000 in general fund money, were projected to bring in $1.2 billion annually for roads and bridges by 2021.

Schor joined other Democrats in arguing the increase was too little too late. Schor said he supported another proposal that would have injected $1.2 billion annually as soon as 2017. That measure passed Michigan's Republican-controlled Senate, but couldn't get past the Republican House.

"It was a shell game," Schor said. "The House passed half a fix, if that. I wasn't about to have people get mad because their taxes went up if wasn't enough to fix the problem."

A pothole on the east side of town photographed on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Lansing.(Photo11: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)

Is there a better, cheaper way to build roads?

Special road assessments could be one hyper-local solution to Lansing's road woes. Schor said he's been approached by a few residents about the process in which property owners gather signatures and agree to pay a fee to fund roads within a designated district.

"That's a neighborhood by neighborhood conversation," Schor said. "I'm open to those conversations. I think it does show how desperate people have become because of inaction from the state. They're willing to take things into their own hands."

Engineers are always exploring better ways to make and maintain roads, but there's no silver bullet right right now to build long-lasting roads on the cheap, said Waalkes, who helped develop the American Society of Civil Engineer's 2018 Michigan infrastructure report card.

He likened it to building a roof for one's home. A homeowner can choose a 50-year roof over a 10-year roof, but better materials will be more expensive.

Lansing's road projects currently carry a 1-year warranty, which means the contractor will make any necessary repairs within 12 months of construction. Schor said he's open to considering longer warranties, but he warned that those changes would make road repairs more expensive up front.

The secret to better roads? More money, said LaMacchia. It's an answer that's simple in theory, but contentious in practice.

"Until we get serious about roads in Michigan, we're not competitive on the regional level, we're not competitive on the national level and we're not competitive on the global level," LaMacchia said. "There is no better, faster, cheaper in the world of infrastructure."

What do you think?

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Contact Sarah Lehr at (517) 377-1056 or slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr.